The Environmental Imperative for Electric Vehicles.
For anyone now driving a gas-powered vehicle, the biggest-impact single step you can take in reducing your individual carbon footprint is switching to an electric vehicle (assuming of course, similar driving practices).
If you are thinking about purchasing or leasing a new car (now or in the future), or just curious about the environmental advantage that electric vehicles offer, click here for a three-page white paper on the Environmental Imperative for Electric Vehicles.
Written by Ron Fitton, a member of Beach United’s congregation, the white paper summarizes the research into a comprehensive summary of the costs and benefits of electric cars.
During Lent we are encouraging you to add more plant-based meals into your diet. This is a spiritual discipline which helps us to play an active part in caring for the earth by reducing our carbon foot-print.
The U.N. believes that a global shift toward plant-based food is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of climate change. Globally, animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all the world’s transportation systems combined.
This challenge will be different for each of us. I eat a vegetarian diet, so I will be reducing the amount of goat’s cheese and eggs that I eat. I am lactose intolerant which means I have not had cow’s milk for many years. Whatever your starting point, I hope that each of us will move closer to eating a plant based diet. If you are already there – thank you!
Need a little help?
I have invited people to send me their favourite vegetarian /vegan recipes, take-out restaurant which serve vegetarian dishes, and prepared vegan dishes from grocery stores.
The recipes are coming in from people you might well know at Beach United Church.
A good place to start when eating more plant-based foods; is by using prepared plant-based foods from the grocery store or take-out meals – CLICK HERE
Karen’s Veggie Dal – with a local twist This recipe uses as many local Ontario vegetables as possible. Less transportation means less carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Tastes good, does you good and it’s good for the environment!
Sauté in olive oil, onion, 3 garlic cloves and ginger. Use large frying pan with lid.
Add 1 tsp of paprika, cumin, coriander
Add can tomatoes [796 ml], 1 cup green lentils [ rinsed and drained]
1 leek chopped, half medium rutabaga, small cubed
5 cups [1.2 liters] veggie stock
Can of black eyed peas
Stir well, to make sure lentils are not sticking to pan.
Cook at a slow boil for 30 mins
Add salt, pepper & lemon juice to taste.
I hope that you will join with me, as we each try to “live with respect in creation” [New Creed, United Church of Canada].
Caring for the Caregiver during Covid led by Christine Grace McMulkin.*
Dates: Saturday March 6th and 13th Time: 1.00 – 2.30 pm To register contact: christine@christinegraceandcommunity.com Please register no later than Thursday March 4th.
Whether you are caregiving at home, at work or from a distance. Whether you are tending to a family member, friend or neighbour, student, client, patient or another. Through reflection and conversation, as well as self compassionate, practical, and supportive strategies, this 2-part series is intended to provide you with a soft place to land, inviting you to tend to yourself while tending to others.
* Christine is invested in cultivating beloved communities and is a certified teacher of Mindful Self Compassion
In our faith tradition we believe that all of life on earth is inter-connected, and that God intended that all life is to thrive. For us, there is no division between the “spiritual” and the “material”: God is the Creator of all that exists. We are a part of the environment, and it is a part of us in this beautiful web of life. Therefore, the environmental crisis becomes one that our faith community is concerned about; it is about our failure as human beings to live in a proper relationship with the remainder of life here on earth, and with the God who has caused all of this amazingly wonderful Earth to come to life.
As a community that aspires to a healthy relationship with all of life, we dream of living in a respectful manner. We desire to do all that we can, using the gift of science, to help life to thrive on Planet Earth.
What can I do about this environmental crisis?
Our Christian faith calls us to respect all of life, and to be good stewards of the environment that we share with all of the plants and animals on Planet Earth. Scientific evidence shows that we are in the midst of an environmental crisis, called climate change, or sometimes it is labelled “global warming”. We already know Canada is far behind in its goal to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2050. So, what can we do as individuals who care about life on Planet Earth?
Reducing our carbon footprint
Here in Toronto the three largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 85 per cent of GHG emissions in 2018, are:
The Environmental Action Group at Beach United Church is interested in promoting personal actions that can make a difference right now, and into the future. For that reason, we are promoting personal actions that reduce our carbon footprint, and increase our own health; the well-being of our community, and the restoration of a life-giving environment.
We have already renovated our church building to high environmental standards, and have installed a solar array on the roof to generate “green” electricity that is fed into the city’s electrical grid.
Another effective way we can reduce our carbon emissions into the atmosphere is by re-examining our personal use of transportation.
A short list of transportation alternatives is as follows:
